Cover for cue tip

ABSTRACT

A cue tip cover to be inserted onto an end of a cue stick, the cue tip cover including a main body comprising between 60 and 90 percent of the cue tip cover, a base disposed at a bottom portion of the main body, such that the base is flat, a front end disposed at a front tip portion of the main body, a rear end disposed at a rear portion of the main body, an aperture disposed at a center portion of the rear end to receive the end of the cue stick therein, and an inner cavity to receive the end of the cue stick as the end of the cue stick enters the aperture.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present general inventive concept relates generally to a cover for acue tip.

2. Description of the Related Art

A billiard table (i.e., pool table) is an expensive investment, butprovides a fun activity when playing with friends, small children, orhouse-guests. If a player strikes the cue ball too low however, the cuecan slip and the cue tip will come into contact with the billiard cloth,which can leave burn marks in the felt material, damaging the surface ofthe table.

Therefore, there is a need for a device that effectively protects thesurface of a pool table from pool cue tips.

SUMMARY

The present general inventive concept provides a cover for a cue tip.

Additional features and utilities of the present general inventiveconcept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and,in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned bypractice of the general inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present generalinventive concept may be achieved by providing a cue tip cover to beinserted onto an end of a cue stick, the cue tip cover including a mainbody comprising between 60 and 90 percent of the cue tip cover, a basedisposed at a bottom portion of the main body, such that the base isflat, a front end disposed at a front tip portion of the main body, arear end disposed at a rear portion of the main body, an aperturedisposed at a center portion of the rear end to receive the end of thecue stick therein, and an inner cavity to receive the end of the cuestick as the end of the cue stick enters the aperture.

The cue tip cover may further include a foam portion disposed within theinner cavity to deform to receive the end of the cue stick therein.

The cue tip cover may further include a tip portion disposed at leastpartially within the inner cavity at the front end of the main body.

The tip portion may include an inner end disposed within the innercavity to contact a cue tip of the cue stick, and an outer end oppositethe inner end to contact a pool ball.

The base may be constructed from a material that allows the cue tipcover to be easily slidable along a surface of a pool table.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other features and utilities of the present generallyinventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated fromthe following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a front angled view of a cue tip cover, according toan exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side cross-sectional view of the cue tip cover,according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventiveconcept;

FIG. 3 illustrates a zoomed-in view of the cue tip cover installed on acue stick that is about to hit a pool ball disposed on a pool table,according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventiveconcept; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a zoomed-out view of the cue tip cover installed onthe cue stick that is about to hit the pool ball disposed on the pooltable, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present generalinventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various example embodiments (a.k.a., exemplary embodiments) will now bedescribed more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings inwhich some example embodiments are illustrated. In the figures, thethicknesses of lines, layers and/or regions may be exaggerated forclarity.

Accordingly, while example embodiments are capable of variousmodifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown byway of example in the figures and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit exampleembodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary,example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure. Like numbersrefer to like/similar elements throughout the detailed description.

It is understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Other words used to describe therelationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion(e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directlyadjacent,” etc.).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” when usedherein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presenceor addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Itwill be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonlyused dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art.However, should the present disclosure give a specific meaning to a termdeviating from a meaning commonly understood by one of ordinary skill,this meaning is to be taken into account in the specific context thisdefinition is given herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a front angled view of a cue tip cover 100, accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side cross-sectional view of the cue tip cover 100,according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventiveconcept.

FIG. 3 illustrates a zoomed-in view of the cue tip cover 100 installedon a cue stick 10 that is about to hit a pool ball 20 disposed on a pooltable 30, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present generalinventive concept.

FIG. 4 illustrates a zoomed-out view of the cue tip cover 100 installedon the cue stick 10 that is about to hit the pool ball 20 disposed onthe pool table 30, according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentgeneral inventive concept.

The cue tip cover 100 may be constructed from plastic, cloth, foam,metal, glass, or any other material known to one of ordinary skill inthe art that will allow for a cue tip 11 of the cue stick 10 to beinserted thereinto, and may have a length between 1 and 10 inches,depending on a user's preference.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the cue tip cover 100 may include a mainbody 110, a base 120, a front end 130, a rear end 140, an aperture 150,an inner cavity 160, a foam portion 170, and a tip portion 180.

The main body 110 may be rounded, and may include between 60 to 90percent of an entire portion of the cue tip cover 100.

The base 120 may be constructed from plastic, or any other material thatallows the cue tip cover 100 to slide easily along the pool table 30.The base 120 may also be flat, and may include between 10 to 40 percentof the entire portion of the cue tip cover 100.

The front end 130 may be rounded, and may be disposed at a front tipportion of the main body 110.

The rear end 140 may be flat, and may be disposed at a rear portion ofthe main body 110.

The aperture 150 may be disposed at a center portion of the rear end140, and may allow the cue tip 11 of the cue stick 10 to be insertedinto the inner cavity 160 of the cue tip cover 100.

The inner cavity 160 may include the foam portion 170 disposed therein.When the cue stick 10 is inserted into the inner cavity 160, the foamportion 170 may deform in order to allow the cue tip cover 100 to besnugly inserted onto the cue stick 10. In other words, the foam portion170 may cause the aperture 150 and the inner cavity to be very small, inorder to cause the cue stick 10 to be inserted with a slight bit ofdifficulty to result in a tight fit. As such, the cue tip cover 100 willnot fall off the cue stick 10 during use.

The tip portion 180 may be disposed within the inner cavity 160 at thefront end 130 of the cue tip cover 100, such that an inner end 181 ofthe tip portion 180 contacts the cue tip 11 when the cue stick 10 isinserted within the inner cavity 160. An outer end 182 of the tipportion 180 opposite from the inner end 181 may be disposed outside thefront end 130, such that the outer end 182 may contact a center portionof the pool ball 20 disposed on the pool table 30, as illustrated inFIGS. 3 and 4.

The inner end 181 may also be slightly concave, in order to allow thecue tip 11 to be properly in contact therewith.

The cue tip cover 100 may be designed so that the tip portion 180 isdisposed at a level/height to contact an exact center of a regulationsize pool ball.

As such, the cue tip cover 100 may be inserted onto a front end of thecue 10 to allow children to play pool on the pool table 30 without worrythat felt on a surface of the pool table 30 will be damaged.

Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept havebeen shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing fromthe principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope ofwhich is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. A cue tip cover to be inserted onto an end of a cue stick, the cuetip cover comprising: a main body comprising between 60 and 90 percentof the cue tip cover; a base longitudinally disposed on a portion of anouter surface of the main body, such that the base is flat; a front enddisposed at a front tip portion of the main body; a rear end disposed ata rear portion of the main body; an aperture disposed at a centerportion of the rear end to receive the end of the cue stick therein; andan inner cavity to receive the end of the cue stick as the end of thecue stick enters the aperture.
 2. The cue tip cover of claim 1, furthercomprising: a foam portion disposed within the inner cavity to deform toreceive the end of the cue stick therein.
 3. The cue tip cover of claim1, further comprising: a tip portion disposed at least partially withinthe inner cavity at the front end of the main body.
 4. The cue tip coverof claim 3, wherein the tip portion comprises: an inner end disposedwithin the inner cavity to contact a cue tip of the cue stick; and anouter end opposite the inner end to contact a pool ball.
 5. The cue tipcover of claim 1, wherein the base is constructed from a material thatallows the cue tip cover to slide along a surface of a pool table.